Apps Connect to remote DB, jdbc vs. web service

[Ray334]

I've been having a lot of difficulty connecting to a MySQL database remotely through a simple app which brought me to this suggestion: Would a web service that communicates to the DB via php calls on the web site be a good solution for an app making calls to a DB?
1. Is it a safe method?
2. Can you trust the app to update a DB just as well as a web page?
3. Does an android app calling a webpage maintain the session variables?

thanks for any input.​

 

[Unforgiven]

I moved this toe the development forum for better exposure.